Interior of 200 Madison Avenue lobby. Image Credit: LPC/George Comfort & Sons.

The lobby is a well-preserved example of the Neo-Renaissance style. On July 20, 2021, the Landmarks Preservation Commission voted to calendar the first floor lobby interior of 200 Madison Avenue in Murray Hill, Manhattan. The T-shaped lobby has entrances on Madison Avenue, West 35th and West 36th Streets.

200 Madison Avenue is a red-brick 26-story building, constructed in 1925-26 and designed by Warren & Wetmore. The building’s nine-story base that faces Madison Avenue originally contained an apartment hotel, and the 25 story set-back tower featured commercial offices and showrooms. The hotel was also converted to commercial space around 1940. 

The proposed designation focuses on the building’s first floor lobby due to its design and ornate features. The first floor lobby includes a two-hundred foot long arcade running north to south between West 35th and West 36th Streets. The main portion of the lobby opens onto Madison Avenue. The lobby is designed in the neo-Renaissance style in a golden brownish pink palette. The arcade features a shallow vaulted ceiling with low plaster relief and multiple round arch covers and each end of the arcade features a foyer with five brass-framed doors. 

The central part of the lobby, aligned with the central elevator hall, also features a shallow vaulted ceiling that is decorated with rosettes, a yellow terrazzo floor with a geometric marble inlay and chevrons, and polished marble walls. There are nine elevators, and the elevator and service doors, letter boxes, ventilation grilles, and animal reliefs are mostly in brass. 

The only non-historic elements in the lobby are a reception desk, certain lighting fixtures, security turnstiles and other minor modifications. The lobby is an excellent example of the neo-Renaissance style and is one of the best preserved lobbies from the 1920’s that still exists today. 

Landmarks will hold a public hearing at a later date.

By: Veronica Rose (Veronica is the CityLaw fellow and a New York Law School graduate, Class of 2018.)